Struggling to cook healthy? We'll help you prep.

By day, Heather Coffman works at a museum in Oklahoma in the collections and exhibits department. By night, she’s training for a marathon that will take place in May. But preparing for a race involves more than just running and getting fit, it’s also important to train your eating habits as well. And Heather is gearing up to run with a race-ready nutrition plan on the Cooking Light Diet.

“Well, I actually started training and the Cooking Light Diet at the same time,” said Heather. “I told myself I’m going to just sign up for a month to see what it’s about. If I didn’t like it, then obviously you know I could just ditch it. But I ended up really liking it. Then afterwards I was thinking, ‘Why didn’t I start earlier?’”

The 30-year-old, who is originally from Iowa, wasn’t necessarily overweight, but joined the Cooking Light Diet to keep her cholesterol in check and to make healthier choices when it comes to food.

“I didn’t eat terrible before, but it wasn’t as good as I wanted it to be,” said Heather. “I haven’t been at my peak so you tend to not really pay attention to what you’re eating. I gained some weight, and I just kind of want to lose that and tone things up a little bit.”

With a busy schedule and cooking for just herself, Heather thought it’d be difficult to find a healthy regimen she could actually maintain for the long haul. When she opted for the gluten-free meal plan on the Cooking Light Diet, she found out how easy it was to avoid wheat and not go back to her bad eating habits.

“Living alone and only cooking for one is much harder than people know,” Heather said. “I like that the recipes are very adaptable to one person. I can look at the recipe and cut it down by four really easily for dinner. If it’s something that’s freezable, then I freeze it to have on the days that I don’t feel like cooking so that I don’t resort to eating crap. I feel like cooking for me, I went through a lot [of food] because I wouldn’t use it fast enough, or I would buy stuff and never use it. But now, what I buy I know I’m going to use. That’s also helped cut down on my grocery bill because I know what I’m buying is exactly what I’m going to be using in that week or the weeks to come.”

Heather’s other cross to bear was eating out a lot, which is often the go-to option for those of us who live alone and have busier schedules.

“I don’t feel like I want to go out because I have this meal option already planned,” said Heather. “Why go out and spend the money? That’s another thing I cut back on, which was good for my diet and my wallet.”

In addition to cooking for herself and not eating out frequently at restaurants, the Cooking Light Diet has not only helped Heather to fuel her run but has made her more adventurous in the kitchen as well.

“I like cooking and trying new things,” Heather said. “Before, I just kind of felt lost and I wasn’t feeling motivated. But now I like this because I do get to cook dinner most every day, which I enjoy. I feel like the dinners are easy enough that someone could gain confidence they may not have. It’s stress-free and takes a lot of the thinking process out of meal planning, which I always got really overwhelmed about," she said. "I like to cook, but I don’t want to think about what to cook. I know exactly what I’m going to eat for dinner, and I don’t have to spend time coming up with an idea. All the meals are really good post-run, like proteins and vegetables or things I really need. I wouldn’t say that I’m always hungry now. I feel like they’re all the best foods and very filling. It’s [the Diet] made me more confident and given me ideas for the future.

And after Heather crosses the finish line in May, she plans to continue with the Cooking Light Diet, turning it into a maintenance plan to keep the weight off.

“I have the motivation to keep going past May whenever my race is done,” said Heather. “I’ve lost about 10 pounds,* but I plan on losing more. I’m at the point where I was before I gained all my stress weight. I always held onto these pants because I thought, ‘I’m going to fit into these one day.’ I’m glad I did because that’s motivation to keep going. Not only do I see it on the scale, but I see it in other ways. It’s easy whether you want to lose the weight or maintain where you’re at.”